Friday, December 31, 2010

I know 2011 was a tough year for a lot of people, I know a number of people who experienced personal or professional losses. But personally it was a great year for me, a year of rebuilding and getting back on my feet.

I got a job, and recently a promotion. I got a nice big apartment in an awesome part of town. I went from owning nothing larger than would fit in some Rubbermaid bins to having a pretty comfortably furnished home. So materially at least, things are going well.

I'm also on a good path towards my master's degree, having taken two Spanish classes and signed up for a third. And I've started looking at different grad programs to apply for with an eye towards a career as an English teacher.

My creativity has improved this year too. I finished 9 quilts and started a handful more. So much for only working on one project at a time. ;) I also dipped my toe into the world of art-quilts and had a lot of fun making a few wall hangings. I haven't done quite as much knitting, but I did make a few hats. Oh, and I got to try glass-blowing for the first time ever. It was amazing, and I hope to do it again.

My personal life also experienced a bit of an upswing for a while. I was dating a someone for a good portion of the year, and although it hasn't worked out romantically... we're still friends. I call that a big win.

There were even a few travel related adventures this year. I spent a weekend in San Francisco visiting a friend, and generally enjoying the city. Then for the holidays I visited my family in Nashville for a week. Nothing exotic... but it's always nice to get out and about.

My time in Thailand was, obviously, a very significant event in my life... and in some ways it feels like I just got back. But I've now been back in the States for almost as long as I was gone. So I'm glad to look back and see that I have not been idle since returning. All in all, 2011 was a pretty fantastic year for me.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Having made a quilt for my niece, I felt obligated to make something for my nephew as well. Maybe not the purest of quilting intentions... but there you go. He's a boy... so it was rather more of a challenge. But my brother in law was telling me a story of how they went to a Titans game last year, but it was so cold they ended up leaving just after half time. So hopefully next time they go, they'll remember to bring this & get to stay for the whole game!I used the same pattern I used for the puppy quilt I made a while ago. It only took a week, start to finish. Not the most amazing quilt ever. But I am happy with how it turned out. And my nephew liked it well enough. Not as much as the light up glitter ball I got him (from Brookstone), or the light-saber chapstick, but he consented to have it on his bed. ;)

Again, I used wavy lines for the quilting. Nothing fancy. I bought some of the fabric online... this was a first for me. One of them I ended up not using. I really really didn't like it. The quality was really low even though it was 100% cotton. I think in the future I'll stick to shopping in fabric stores... or at least only buying from big name manufacturers.

So that's what I've been up to.... finishing some Christmas presents. And now that I've gotten my obligatory family trip out of the way, I'm free to celebrate the rest of the season the way I want to! First up - Tuba Christmas in downtown Portland. =)